John Bercow: 'My wife was joking when she said I'm sexier because of my job'

HOUSE of Commons Speaker John Bercow insists he has "certainly not become a sex symbol."

John Bercow said that his wife's comments about him becoming a sex symbol were a joke [WENN]

The silver-haired politician dismissed his wife Sally's claims that his job made him more attractive.

Mr Bercow, 51, a former Tory MP who has held his current position since 2009, claimed her comments were made in jest.

He added: "She does have a very good sense of humour."

As well as opinions regarding his sex appeal, he has also felt the brunt of insults due to his 5ft 6in frame.

MP Simon Burns called him a “stupid sanctimonious dwarf” during a Commons debate in 2010 before retracting the remark and apologising to him.

Mrs Bercow, with whom he has three children, towers over him at 5ft 10in and her husband has hit back at critics by saying that comments about height should be treated in the same way as other forms of discrimination.

Mr Bercow with Sally, whom he has been married to for 11 years [GETTY]

He said: "Whereas nobody these days would regard it as acceptable to criticise someone on grounds of race or creed or disability or sexual orientation, somehow it seems to be acceptable to comment on someone's height, or lack of it.

"Does it affect me, personally? Not at all. It's just low grade, intellectually substandard and schoolboyish."

His wife has also let it slip that his career at Westminster has an "aphrodisiac" effect on their sex lives.

Mrs Bercow got tongues wagging in 2011 when she appeared in a newspaper wearing only a bed sheet with the Houses of Parliament in the background.

Despite her husband reportedly "reading her the Riot Act" after it was published, she later made headlines in February for being photographed in a brunette wig kissing another man in a central London nightclub.

But Mr Bercow said he was not fazed by the amorous clinch with the tattooed DJ and fitness instructor Craig Oliver.

He said: "Sally and I have our own approach to marriage and we are perfectly comfortable in our own skin.

"And, in the politest possible way, I think I would say: if other people disapprove of it or think it should be otherwise, that's their problem, not ours."

Mrs Bercow was reported to have said that she "can't wait until John finishes being Speaker" so they can enjoy their lives out of the media spotlight.